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Isaiah 21 already. Pretty good, pretty good that we've gone this far. And as we've been going through the book of Isaiah, there's been a few comments that have been brought up at church, and some of those comments usually are I don't know how you see anything in these chapters past time. Or these passages, these chapters seem so dry, I don't know how you get anything out of that. And look, you know, I'll be honest with you, like passages like this, even in Isaiah 21, they're difficult to preach from. And look, don't get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to the major prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah. If you have not read the Bible cover to cover once, and you're just reading through these books the first time, a lot of it's going to go over your head. Now that doesn't mean I'm some wise, ultra-wise kind of guy. I've just been saved since I was four years old, I've heard the Bible since I've been young, I've been reading my Bible over and over again, and of course when I get to Isaiah 21 I can see how dry it may seem, but many times when you get to a passage like this, all you want to do from your experience of reading the Bible multiple times is find what is similar, or what are parallels. There are certain phrases or language or descriptions that's going to remind you about other stories, other events in the Bible. And the Bible is not this ultra-complex book where you've got the Bible codes, and if you number the letters this way it talks about Barack Obama, and if it's this way it explains the date of the end of the Earth or something like that. The Bible's written in our English, the King James Bible, it's written in a common language. All we need to do is just read it, pay attention, ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand the Word, and as you grow, as you mature in the Christian faith, as you read the Bible more and more, you're going to find more parallels, you're going to find more similarities, and when you compare Scripture with Scripture, it all starts to make a lot more sense. So, the title is coming from verse number 6, there in Isaiah 21, verse number 6, For thus have the Lord said unto me, Go, set a watchman. The title for the sermon tonight is Set a Watchman. The watchman gets brought up a few times in this chapter, and of course a watchman is someone that would stand on the walls of the city, and they would be looking out, and their job was to watch. You know, they'd be watching during the day, they'd be watching during the night, of course being a watchman at night was much more difficult because of the lack of light, and as a watchman it was your job to report on any suspicious behavior, it was your job to alert the city of an incoming enemy, you know, what you see, you are to proclaim. Now, that might seem like an easy task, but it's not always that easy, because as you see people approaching the city, you know, your mere thoughts are, well, is this just a neighbor from a foreign town? Are these people coming from a nation that we're friendly with? Are these traders coming to buy and sell? Or are these enemies? Are these soldiers? Are these wicked people? It's not always that easy as a watchman. You're just watching people come in and out of the city, and you, as you see, you have to make an assessment, and you've got to call it out when you believe there is danger to the city. But how embarrassing would it be for a watchman to call out, danger, and all it is is some fisherman coming, you know, with a great number of fish that they caught to sell into the city. That would be embarrassing. Or if a watchman goes, I don't know, it looks dangerous, but I shouldn't alarm, I shouldn't make the city be alarmed, because there could just be anybody, and then before you know it, there are enemies, there are soldiers, it's an army coming to besiege the city. You know, the job is not, it might sound easy, watch, and tell people what's happening, but you're having to make an assessment. You know, is this good? Is this something positive? Is this something negative? But the watchman's job is to proclaim what they see. And it's not all that different from a preacher or a pastor, okay? The pastor's role might look easy just by looking at it, right? It's like, well, he prepares three sermons a week, you know, roughly. He just gets behind the pulpit and preaches, and I guess he studies the Bible as a watchman. He's there to proclaim and to preach what he sees. The job can't be that complicated, but now that I've done it a few years, it's vastly more complicated, okay? And it's, you know, you're not just assessing what God's Word says. Not only do you have to proclaim what is positive, but you also have to proclaim what is negative, but you're also having to assess people as they're coming in and out of church, you know, personalities, families, and situations, and you're doing the best to, you know, be a watchman. Some of that is like a vigil and paying attention to the needs of everybody that is part of your church. It's not actually as easy as it may seem, all right? So as we go through Isaiah 21, obviously we're talking about the prophet Isaiah. In many ways, he's the watchman, he's the prophet, he's the one proclaiming, he's the one that God is using to say some negative things, and we also see how preaching what is negative has an effect on Isaiah's life. So there in Isaiah 21, verse number 1, it begins, the burden of the deserts of the sea. Now what I want you to do is keep your finger in Jeremiah 50 and 51. Right now come into Jeremiah 51, okay? So you're going, I mean that seems a little cryptic, the burden of the desert of the sea. Now let me just quickly tell you that this is Babylon. This is a reference to Babylon once again, okay? Now one of the reasons I know this Babylon is because as we continue in Isaiah 21, we definitely see that it's preaching to Babylon, okay? But just to clarify, what would that mean? The burden of the desert of the sea. How does a sea of water have a desert? Like that's very cryptic. Well, it's symbolism, and when you look at Jeremiah 51, Jeremiah 51 and verse number 1, it says, As thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them, that rise up against me a destroying wind. I will send unto Babylon fanners, and shall fan her, and shall empty her land, for in the day of trouble they shall be against her roundabouts. So you can see Jeremiah, which was a contemporary of Isaiah, but it started to preach a little bit later during Isaiah's life, but it's also preaching here against Babylon, you know, the Babylon of that day. But notice God uses this description that is going to send a destroying wind. He's going to send fanners to fan her, to empty her land, like this just Russian wind that's going to come and empty out the place. Well, think of that, just think of that description in Jeremiah 51, and come back with me to Isaiah 21. Keep your finger there in Jeremiah 51, as well. So, if we see this symbol of God sending this wind, you know, to flush out the inhabitants and the people of Babylon, then we can understand why there's a desert of the sea where the sea once had these waters, but then this mighty wind has come and laid it bare. Now you've just got this desert. And as you continue there in verse number 1, it says, look at this, as whirlwinds in the south pass through, so it cometh from the desert from a terrible land. And so instead of being fanners and a wind, a destroying wind, Isaiah 21 verse 1 says, as whirlwinds. This is going to be a powerful wind that's going to come through and destroy Babylon. And of course, the empire that destroyed Babylon, or took over Babylon we should say, was the Medo-Persian Empire. So this whirlwind is the Medo-Persian Empire. In fact, God describes it later on in this chapter here in Isaiah 21. But I want you to notice that the whirlwinds in the south pass through. So these whirlwinds are coming from the south. Now, we're in Isaiah 21. What's the 21st book of the Bible? Tim always has the answer, but before Tim answers, someone else? Ecclesiastes. What did you say to me? Nah, sorry man, I got it wrong. It is Ecclesiastes. You know why I got confused? Because it's the same author. Anyway, it's Ecclesiastes. So I know you're going to think of it in Jeremiah, but can't we meet to Ecclesiastes, please? Ecclesiastes chapter 1, please. Ecclesiastes chapter 1 and verse number 6. So again, why are we doing this? Because it is said by some that every chapter of Isaiah is aligned with the book of the Bible by its corresponding number. So we're in Isaiah 21. What's the 21st book of the Bible? Ecclesiastes. So let's see if we can find some similarities, similar teaching, similar themes in Ecclesiastes. Well, when you go to Ecclesiastes, and I strongly believe this is a strong correlation, because while we're about to read Ecclesiastes 1, it brings up a theme that you'll see throughout Isaiah 21. And the theme is this. It says in Ecclesiastes 1 verse 6, The wind goeth toward the south. Now remember in Isaiah 21, it says the whirlwind's in the south. But anyway, the wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north, it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. So in Ecclesiastes, this was known by God that winds have a circuit. Air currents, as we call it today. Obviously when this was written, that was not known in the scientific realm. Scientists, they read this in the Bible, and they said, well, God says the wind has circuits. It returns back to where it came from, and then through God's word, they were able to find this on the earth. But the idea there of wind, I don't know if you know how wind operates, it's basically when hot air, because you've got the equator of the earth, and the equator is the hottest part of the earth. So you've got warm wind there. And when that warm wind meets cold wind, it causes, sorry, when warm air meets cold air, it causes the winds. And it creates these currents. But these currents go throughout the earth, and they return back to where they started. And so one of the things that we get out of Ecclesiastes, and you'll see the same theme here in Isaiah 21, is that as wind repeats its cycles, so does history. History repeats, okay? This is why when we talk about Babylon, we talk about these great kingdoms. They rise, they fall. They rise, they fall. Men make the same mistakes over and over again. Men go through the same experiences over and over again. And again, one of the major themes of Ecclesiastes is that there is nothing new under the sun. Everything continues. There's almost this cycle that just continues over and over and over again. History continues to repeat itself. Come back with me to Isaiah 21. Isaiah 21, in verse number 2. It says, A grievous vision is declared unto me. So God's given Isaiah a vision that he's got to preach about. And Isaiah says, This is grievous. He goes, Oh man. I don't really want to preach this. It makes me feel uncomfortable. And again, what is the job of a watchman? You've got to preach what you see. God's given Isaiah a vision. And as a watchman, this is what I've seen. This is what I have to proclaim. And look, it's not that I'm the pastor of this church and be thankful for this man or anything like that. If we want to honor God, if we have a fear of God, we want to honor his word. If we're preachers, and I'm praying that God will send a full-time pastor to Blessed Hope Baptist Church. Blessed Hope Baptist Church has a pastor. That's me. But I want God to raise up a man, whether within our church, whether without our church, someone that is right, and that man must be someone who, if he sees a vision, he sees something, whether it's positive, whether it's negative, he's going to proclaim it anyway because it's the vision, it's the words that he's seen with his own eyes, and that's what we have to proclaim. And you think that's easy. It's not actually that easy. Because sometimes, you know, boy, if I preach this, it's going to upset somebody. You know, as a pastor, sometimes people speak to you of their personal lives, of their struggles, of their sins, of their hardships, and then it's not unusual where you might ring me up on a Saturday, pastor, pray over this sin that I'm struggling with, and then I'm getting ready to prepare a sermon, and there it is. It's about what you just spoke about, and there I am preaching about it on Sunday, and a brother or sister might get offended. Pastor, why did you preach against? It's just God's word was being preached. It's not targeting somebody or someone or, you know, that I just want to embarrass you or proclaim your sins. I'm not even trying to bring up anybody's name. You know, and sometimes being a watchman, being a preacher, it's grievous. And sometimes I preach and I go home and I'm a bit sad and I go, boy, I know my brother or my sister and the Lord's not going to like that sermon because they mentioned something this week and they think it's about them. And I guess it is about them. If the Lord's put it and the coincidence worked, it's not a coincidence. It's what God wanted. It's what was seen in the vision of the watchman and it needs to be proclaimed. And look, I'm not trying to drive anybody away from a desire to be in the ministry. If there's someone here that wants to be a pastor, the Bible says you desire a good work. But don't think it's easy. It's grievous. It's challenging, okay? It's hard, all right? And, you know, as God's revealing this destruction of Babylon to Isaiah, he's having a hard time, man. You know, this is something. It's just, you see how much it overwhelms him. Let's continue there for a second. It says the treacherous dealer, the treacherous dealer is the Medo-Persian empire. The treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously, obviously. That's why it's called the treacherous dealer, okay? So he's dealing treacherously. And the spoiler spoileth, all right? So he's going to take the spoils of Babylon. Then it says this, the words of God. Go up, O Elam. So Elam is a province in Persia, okay? Then he says, besiege, O media. That's the Medes, the Medo-Persian empire. They're the ones that God said, rise up, you know, I'm giving you power. I'm going to give you victory over Babylon. You go and you besiege and you go and destroy that Babylonian empire. It says, all the sign thereof have I made to cease. Now, come back with me to Ecclesiastes. Come back to Ecclesiastes chapter 2. Ecclesiastes chapter 2 and verse number 18. Ecclesiastes chapter 2, verse number 18. Remember that the treacherous dealer dealeth treacherously and the spoiler spoileth. So everything that Babylon, in their conquests, all the spoils they got of war and victory, okay, is now going to be given over to the Medo-Persian empire, okay? They're going to spoil Babylon. And so think about the king of Babylon. Think about these people with these places of authority and power, prestige and wealth. All of that's going to be taken from them and given to another. And then when you look at Ecclesiastes 2, and this is, of course, the writings of King Solomon and King Solomon was one of the wealthiest and the wisest man on the earth at his time. And he says this in verse number 18, Ecclesiastes 2.18. He says, Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun, because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. It's this cycle that repeats. Solomon says, Boy, I worked hard to get all this wealth and prosperity. And it goes, But now I hate it, because I'm going to die and somebody else is going to take all that I worked for and take it for themselves. He's saying, I can't take it with me when I die. I can't take earthly treasures to heaven, which is why, of course, we must have our hearts set on treasures in heaven, because that's going to last for all eternity. But the treasures that we build up on this earth, one day, if you just desire to be rich and wealthy, one day you're going to look at all your possessions, you're going to look at your huge bank account, and you're going to go, I hate this stuff. I worked so hard for it and I'm going to die and I can't take any of it with me. It's a cycle. It repeats. Someone's going to take it. As much as I love my house and the memory of my children growing up, one day someone else is going to own it. One day somebody else is going to then own it after them. We've got this period of time on the earth to have our life and we don't want to be people that are just so stuck on carnal and material things because we can't take it with us. Cycles repeat, someone else is going to take it, and Babylon, for a period of time, they were blessed by God to have victory, but now it's time for them to be spoiled. Now it's time for the Medo-Persian Empire to come and take the spoils of Babylon, and then down in history, then they're going to be conquered by the Grecian Empire, and then down in history it's going to be the Roman Empire, and so on and so forth. Throughout history, it's going to be one after another. History continues to repeat itself, and brethren, this is why it's so important that we always think of eternal things because it's always going to be there. Like the mansions that Jesus Christ has gone to repair, it's always going to be there. The treasures that we lay up in heaven, the bank account that we have in heaven, it's always going to be there. We're not going to have a spoiler who spoils us in heaven and takes it all away. And so when we compare Isaiah and Ecclesiastes, we see just the hopelessness of trying to have great wealth and great prosperity and great riches and great power because it's all going to be taken from you and you can't take it with you when you die anyway. Back to Isaiah 21, verse number 3. So God's given Isaiah this vision, and then he says this, Therefore are my loins filled with pain. It's very grievous to Isaiah. He says, ah man, this has given me a lot of pain. He goes, pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth. I was bowed down at the hearing of it. I was dismayed at the seeing of it. So he hears it and he sees it. God gives him a vision. He sees the future because he can barely, he's just bowed down, like he just can't even lift himself up. I don't know if you've ever gone through a time of stress or depression and maybe you go to bed and you just don't want to come out of bed. You just can't do it. I can't bring myself to just put myself on my feet. You've got some great stress, some burden upon you. That's how Isaiah is feeling. He's like, I can't preach this, Lord. I don't want this vision. I don't want to be thinking about people being massacred and wiped out. You know what I mean? We're human beings. Even an unsaved wicked man, the last thing you want to be doing is just like, all right, they're going to be wiped out and destroyed. Even though it's God's word and we have to preach God's word and we have to preach about hell and the eternal torments and we can't hide from God's word, at the same time as a human being does it not sadden you to think that people are going to hell and they're going to be tormented forever and ever and it's something that should be grievous to us, even as a preacher, even as someone who is a watchman. I don't rejoice to think that people are going to suffer for all eternity. I don't suffer today but I know in my new resurrected body when I see Jesus Christ face to face I will be rejoicing because I will fully understand his righteous judgments. But Isaiah is just a man. A man who is weak. A man who is just an everyday man. When we read about these great men of God don't forget they're great men of God because God is great. They're just a regular human being being faithful, being obedient as a watchman that God has instructed them to teach and to preach. But also when we talk about Isaiah and his pains that he's experiencing this is also a double meaning. Because his hearing his seeing it's almost like God's picked up Isaiah and placed him into the future and is experiencing the pain that King Belshazzar is going to experience. It's almost like he's picked up and taken to the future like a time machine. And he's feeling the pains and the fears and the concerns of King Belshazzar. So if you can come with me quickly come with me quickly to actually before, no you've got a finger in Jeremiah come with me to Jeremiah 50 come with me to Jeremiah 50 Jeremiah 50 please. This is about King Belshazzar and it says in Jeremiah 50 43 The king of Babylon have heard the report of them that's the meats and his hands waxed feeble anguish took hold of him and pangs as of a woman in travail. See it's the same suffering that Belshazzar is experiencing that Isaiah is experiencing. It's the same. Human beings like Isaiah's seeing the pain of Belshazzar even though Belshazzar is a wicked man deserving the judgment of God. Isaiah just like a regular human being it burdens him. It's grievous toward him. So if we understand the double meaning that it affects Isaiah but it's also having this vision and it's a double meaning for King Belshazzar then as we continue going through Isaiah 21 you'll see how many similarities there are with the story of King Belshazzar when they were taken over. So come back with me to Isaiah 21 and look at verse number 4 Isaiah says My heart panted fearfulness affrighted me the night of my pleasure hath he turned into fear unto me. So Isaiah is saying this was supposed to be a night of pleasure but now it's a night of fear. Verse number 5 it says Prepare the table watch in the watchtower eat, drink, arise ye princes and anoint the shield. So we see that this night of pleasure is that they're eating, they're drinking there are authorities, there are princes and the anointing of the shield the shield is a device of defense it's a shield, it's for defense. And so of course they're setting watchmen at the watchtower can you watch for enemies as we're having our time of pleasure? And all of that if you know the story of King Belshazzar it starts to make a lot of sense. So come with me to Daniel chapter 5 come with me to Daniel chapter 5 verse number 1 Daniel chapter 5 and verse number 1 Daniel chapter 5 verse number 1 The Bible says Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords and drank wine before the thousand. So this is the night of pleasure a great feast, a great banquet. Verse number 2 Belshazzar whilst he tasted the wine commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem that the king and his princes remember it said arise ye princes it said drink arise ye princes well, he's got the princes his wives and his concubines made drink therein. You can see the parallel with Isaiah 21 and Daniel chapter 5 and so they're having this drunken party and then drinking from the golden and silver vessels that were built for the house of God. Drop down to verse number 4 They drank wine and praised the God of gold and of silver, of brass, of iron of wood and of stone. In the same hour came four fingers of a man's hand this is a miracle and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster wall of the king's palace and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote then the king's countenance was changed remember he's having a night of pleasure something about him changes and his thoughts troubled him so that the joints of his loins were loosed and his knees smelt one against another all of a sudden a night of pleasure becomes a night of fear like we saw in Isaiah 21 and even his knees they're banging together he's so afraid that his hand suddenly appears and starts writing something on the wall of course that was the hand of God and the one that interpreted the writing was Daniel, we're not going through the story right now and the writing of the wall against Belshazzar is that this very night they'll be destroyed, he will die and the kingdom will be ended that was the whole message of the hand of the wall so come back with me to Isaiah 21 and verse number 6 Isaiah 21 verse number 6 so even though Belshazzar had watchmen even though they were watching for armies and enemies you know, the enemies were too powerful the Medo-Persian empire came through conquered it, you know King Belshazzar lost his life that very night and even when you set up watchmen you know, it's not the only solution like, you know, I can preach the Bible to you you know, I can warn you of sin I can warn you of wickedness you know, I can have my heart broken for you but if you say, pastor, I just refuse to absorb that pastor, I just refuse to apply that to my life okay, I went to church, I ticked the box but I'm going to go through life I'm going to just continue to live the way I am look, you're going to be destroyed no matter what the watchman does okay look at verse number 6, Isaiah 21 verse number 6 that's the job of the preacher you've got to declare what you see I read that, I'm studying, I've got to prepare something, Lord please place something on my heart to preach to your people oh Lord, I don't think my church is going to like that sermon do I skip it? do I void it? no let him declare what he seeth that's the preacher's job and again, please don't get upset with the preacher the preacher loves you I'm not talking about just me, I'm talking about any man that gets up here to preach they love you, they've spent time, they've spent hours studying God's word being insecure about what they might say and should I say this? and have I studied this correctly? I don't want to upset my Lord I don't want to fail my pastor Sepulveda there's so many other concerns that are on the hearts and the minds of these preachers please don't take the approach that sermon wasn't that great or something like that boy, the watchman's doing the best he can but hey, you've got to respond from what is being heard you've got to hear if the watchman says, the enemy's coming prepare yourselves I'm not convinced you're going to be destroyed you won't be ready for the battle so the watchman looks out verse number 7 and he saw a chariot so this gives us an idea of what was happening with Babylon that night they're having this drunken party the watchman, this is what they see and he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen a chariot of asses and a chariot of camels and he hearkened diligently with much heed I never really thought about a chariot of camels I guess that's what they had they're still powerful creatures verse number 8 and he cried, a lion sorry, let me just read verse number 7 again and he saw a chariot with a couple of horsemen a chariot of asses and a chariot of camels and he hearkened diligently with much heed alright, and he cried so now, the watchman's seeing this now he's crying he's saying, guys, pay attention he says, a lion my lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime and I am set in my ward whole nights he says, look, I'm watching in the day I'm watching in the night, but what I see is a lion now come with me to Jeremiah 50 Jeremiah 50 what is this lion? okay well in Jeremiah 50, verse number 43 now we already read Jeremiah 50 43 but let's just read it again the king of Babylon have heard the report of them so the watchmen are going there's a lion coming there's an army coming there are chariots coming so the king of Babylon heard the report of them and his hands waxed feeble anguish took hold of him and pangs as of a woman in travail we saw that before behold, he shall come up like a lion so who's coming up like a lion? King Cyrus King Cyrus and his armies are coming up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan unto the habitation of the strong but I will make them suddenly run away from her and who is a chosen man that I may appoint over her who is like me, and who will appoint me the time, and who is that shepherd standing before me don't worry so much about what we read there at the end of verse number 44 but I want you to notice that even though you might look at a passage like Isaiah 21 and you read that and you're like I don't know what that's about you see when you compare scripture with scripture it all fits it's not just random words and random thoughts and I don't know who knows what that's about the more you study the more you read God's word the more preaching here you'll notice that the Bible is this super consistent book it has to be the hand of God it has to be and please forgive me if I fail as a pastor like with the wisdom cause it's deep like it's complex and all I can do is be a watchman and say guys, a lion a lion right come back with me to Isaiah 21 verse number 9 Isaiah 21 verse number 9 quickly come with me to Jeremiah 51 Jeremiah 51 Babylon is fallen, of course if you know the book of Revelation the same phrase the same proclamation we won't go into the end times I've spent a lot of time going through the end times before but just come with me to Jeremiah 51 verse number 8 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed how for her take barn for her pain if so she may if so she may be healed and Babylon in a sense was healed because it was a city under that Medo-Persian empire but Babylon as a kingdom was wiped out, not to rise ever again as a kingdom in that sense but just showing you it's almost like you gotta read Isaiah 21 and Jeremiah 50 and 51 together to get the full picture of God's prophecy of his teaching back to Isaiah 21 verse number 10 oh my freshen and the corn of my floor now again preachers, I'm talking to you and my church, I'm talking to all of you but again I just want you to understand the role of the preacher the role of the pastor even that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts the God of Israel have I declared unto you what is my job to declare unto you what I have heard of the Lord of hosts the God of Israel I don't want to declare unto you just my imagination now are there times that I'm going to try to use my you know, my wisdom, my thoughts you know, my logic to build a further understanding yes but the primary job of the preacher okay, and if you say pastor you have a lot of wisdom, alright, doesn't matter you don't need a lot of wisdom if you've seen what God's word says you preach and proclaim God's word cause that is going, look as soon as you introduce wisdom your thought, maybe this and that as soon as you introduce the wisdom of man you're diminishing how much truth you're preaching when you're proclaiming God's word it's just the reality of it human beings, we don't match the wisdom of God and so, we want to do exactly what was proclaimed there, right as it says, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts the God of Israel, have I declared unto you, like I said, the title for the sermon tonight is Set a Watchman as a watchman you see, this is what's happening I'll declare that, I'll proclaim that I open God's word I see, I understand I've thought about it, now I proclaim can be positive can be negative and it can be grievous and many times the job of the pastor is quite grievous Isaiah 21 verse number 10 verse number 11 Isaiah 21 verse 11 we now have a new prophecy the burden of Dumah now I'll read it he calleth to me out of Seir now Seir is a inferior part of Edom where the Edomites lived it says he calleth me out of Seir watchman, what of the night now look, I don't know I try to look into this a lot I could not I cannot 100% confirm what Dumah is, what place Dumah is but, it could be another name for Edomia which is another name for Edom okay and if he's calling me out of Seir this could be a burden for Edom the children, the descendants of Esau now, again I want to be careful when I say that that sounds correct to me but it could be wrong, it's a bit of a question mark what Dumah is because Dumah was a name of one of Ishmael's children as well and so it could be from a different lineage but anyway again, what do we see in verse number 11 watchman watchman what of the night so people are going to the watchman watchman, what do you see what's going on in the night look again, if someone is at a heart to be a pastor I hope someone here says man, I'd like to be a pastor one day well, you're going to have questions people are going to come up to you what of the night pastor, can you explain to me what's going on right, think about think about all the restrictions back then man, I got so many phone calls pastor, what's going on is this the end times what do we do what of the night verse number 12 the watchman said so this is what he says, this is what he knows the watchman said, the morning cometh and also the night if ye will inquire, inquire ye return come because look, this is all I've seen morning and then the night and again, it's the same theme things repeat okay, so you know, what's going to happen tomorrow, the morning's going to come and then tomorrow's going to be night as well and the day after that, morning and night there's repetition things repeat one after another and that's it, that's the end of that vision that's the end of that kind of new prophecy that was given to Isaiah, because look at verse number 13 the burden upon Arabia, now it's a new burden it's a new vision, so it's like oh man, you've got these two verses, it's like what is that about but I think I see enough as to what this is about is the watchman's job okay, to once again proclaim and you know what, I see a repetition so, you know long gone after I'm dead God willing, if blessed hope, Baptist Church continues and we have another preacher behind here they should be preaching God's word just like I was it should not be some brand new ideas we're going to preach with some other holy book and we're going to read the book of Enoch and we're going to start preaching on that no, no, no, you know what we need to repeat for a new generation, for a new people we have to hear the same things over and over again come with me to Ecclesiastes chapter 1 Ecclesiastes chapter 1 like we said Ecclesiastes is the 21st book of the Bible and Ecclesiastes chapter 1 remember the watchman says, the morning cometh and also the night or in Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verse number 5 the sun also riseth and the sun goeth down and hasteth to his place where he arose the sun returns back with its cycle you know, it's all the same you know, and what has come is going to come again and so we see that, the watchman is saying the same thing like, there's nothing that I should be like, if I start teaching something brand new that throughout Christian history no one's ever heard or you can pick up the Bible and go I don't know what Pastor Kevin's speaking about it's nowhere found in the Bible then I'm not the watchman, I'm not the right watchman we've got to preach obviously, if we're going to be preaching right we're going to be repeating the things that have been said throughout history throughout history so, you know, preachers this is another challenge for you and look, I know what it's like I know what it's like to be like you know, preaching once a month and I'm not having a go at the preacher, I love you guys thank God for you guys but I remember sometimes being like, oh man the church, when I was in the past was like, okay I get to preach in about a month's time I want to come out with something really good something people have not heard and then I realized, how foolish is that I'm just going to preach the same things that I see in the Bible and sometimes my sermons will be almost equivalent to what the pastor preached in the morning, if I was preaching in the afternoon or something like that, or in the evening it doesn't matter, okay you know, the theme, again, cycles repeats the sun rises, it goes down, it comes back where it's been seen if you come with me to Jeremiah 1 I don't know if you kept your finger in Jeremiah Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse number 10 Jeremiah chapter 1 verse number 10 Jeremiah chapter 1 verse number 10 Now also when it comes to the watchman who sees the morning and sees the night the idea there is that sometimes the preaching is positive and light and then sometimes the preaching is dark and negative you know, but you've got to preach at all and in Jeremiah chapter 1 verse number 10 God says to Jeremiah to have this day set over the nations and over the kingdoms look at this to root out to pull down and to destroy and to throw down look, if you're going to root something out like a plant, and you pull it out of the roots you're pulling down, you're destroying you're throwing down that's negative, isn't it? but then it says afterwards to build and to plant and that's positive and so the preacher's job is to just preach what they see whether positive, whether it's negative you've just got to do you've got to be faithful to God, faithful to his word faithful to the house of God and preach everything that is found in the counsel of God Can you come with me to the New Testament in 2 Timothy chapter 4 2 Timothy chapter 4 and verse number 2 2 Timothy chapter 4 and of course the epistle to Timothy they're known as pastoral epistles instructions to pastors instructions to pastors to be if you say pastor, one day I would like to do that, great read 1 Timothy, read 2 Timothy read Titus read 1 and 2 Peter as well but when you get to 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse number 2 it says preach the word doesn't say preach your wisdom preach the word be instant, in season out of season look at this, reprove that's negative, rebuke that's negative I don't want to reprove and rebuke what if someone gets offended at church yeah, yeah, but also exhort that's encourage build up, that's positive exhort with all long suffering and doctrine so I want to show you an Old Testament preacher like Jeremiah negative and positive and in the New Testament, pastors negative and positive the watchman says well it's night and it's day sun rises and the sun sets it all has to be preached and it's tough because you know, if you want to build a big church just forget the negative it's all going to be positive all the time I don't know how you I don't know how you preach for the prophets major and minor prophets and just be positive all the time it's impossible how do you do it? even Isaiah's having a hard time somehow these Joel Olsteins the world seems to somehow just only positive only happy, only smiling there's destruction you know, we when we see the judgment of God, it reminds us it should remind us just how wicked we are as human beings not just the systems and not just the politicians but even us we deserve hell we're sinners we thank God for his grace and when we understand the negative we understand the wickedness of man then we truly understand the love of God we truly understand his love we truly understand his sacrifice that Jesus would die in my place and pay for all of my sins so the negative is so important to appreciate what is positive but anyway, let's continue to the next prophecy in Isaiah 21 and verse 13 the burden upon Arabia now, look I don't have a lot of this is where brother Tim is more of an expert, right? like just history of nations I know we have the Arabian peninsula today, we talk about it but obviously over time and over history, things change and borders change but essentially when it comes to Arabia in the Bible time, this is essentially when it comes to Israel, the land of Canaan it's the land that is southeast to Israel and today we have Saudi Arabia and of course Saudi Arabia takes up, I think from memory, about four fifths of the Arabian peninsula and then we have other nations that make up Arabia Qatar am I right about that? brother Tim? Bahrain, I think? maybe someone help me out here Yemen? Oman? Oman? United Arab Emirates I don't know, is that part of it? yeah, it's called Arab Emirates so, United Arab Emirates okay, so it's for the people that were living in this area, obviously in the time of Isaiah but the burden upon Arabia in the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge all ye travelling companies of the the day near alright, now let's get going there verse number 14 the inhabitants of the land of Timah brought water to him that was thirsty and prevented with their bread him that fled you might be saying, pastor, who are the what are these names, what's Timah? verse number 14 come with me to another passage come with me to Genesis 25 I just want to show you this, Genesis 25 and verse number 13 Genesis 25 and verse number 13 now again, I've not done the deep study here, so anybody that knows can help me out or correct me if I'm wrong but growing up in the Christian world growing up in church we know the story of Abraham and his promised son Isaac and we know that there was a lapse of faith and that Abraham you know, had another son with another woman and that son was Ishmael now, I've been taught my whole life and maybe it's correct, I don't know you know, because the church is supposed to be the pillar on the ground of truth so I'm hoping this was true but I've heard that the Arabs essentially come from the line of Ishmael you correct me later on if I'm wrong but what we're about to read seems to confirm that to be true so in Genesis 25 verse number 13 it says and these are the names of the sons of Ishmael by their names, according to their generations, the first born of Ishmael Nebadjov and Kedah and Abdil and Mipsam and Mishma and Dumah which was mentioned before but I don't think it's the same Dumah and Massa Haider and Timah so remember we saw the land inhabitants of the land of Timah well that's Timah Jethu, Nap, Fish and Kedah alright, so going by that, and I'm assuming the preachers that I've heard say this this is the proof text, I think that again, just confirming that the Arabians apparently seem to be from Ishmael now again, those that know history sometimes in the Bible names are repeated and it could come from a different source, I don't know but if you know better than me, let me know after the sermon but it seems to be confirming these passages together come back with me to Isaiah 21 and verse number 15 He said unto me Within a year, according to the years of Anhilin, and all the glory of Kedah, remember Kedah was mentioned as well as one of the descendants of Ishmael it says that the glory of Kedah shall fail alright, so God seems to be saying to Isaiah that this destruction over the the conquest over the Arabs is going to happen within a specific time frame He says according to the years of Anhilin so it's very specific and within a year I don't know what it was like living back then I don't know what the years of Anhilin exactly represents but it would be something similar today like if you're hired, if you're an employee we also have years of Anhilin so we have the end of the financial year right, like June 30th that's the end of the year you do your taxes, you get your tax return and the 1st of July is the beginning of a new year of Anhilin if you want to call it like that so I think it's something along the same lines that God is prophesying that Arabia is going to be taken over and then verse 17 and the residue of the number of archers so these are the armies or the skilled warriors of the Arabs the archers the mighty men of the tomb of Kedah shall be diminished so they'll be wiped out I guess the Lord God of Israel have spoken it now another interesting fact is that Ishmael and I can't remember the reference right now just something that's in my mind was known to be a skilled archer that's recorded also in the Bible so it seems like if that's the case then he's also taught his children and his grandchildren, generations that came out of that lineage to be these powerful archers but they too are going to be overrun by this burden and again, historically it appears that this burden in this reference here might be the Assyrian empire it might be, okay but sometimes it's very hard because like we're looking at this one chapter we're talking about Babylon, we're talking about the Medo-Persian empire but it seems like this final vision is something that was closer within the year, this was during earlier time in Isaiah's ministry where this might be then a reference to the Assyrian empire anyway brethren the title for the sermon was Set a Watchman Blessed Blessed Our Baptist Church needs a full time watchman and one day I want to set a watchman of this church I am the watchman but I'm part time okay, it's like I can only watch on Thursday nights and I'm relying on the rest of you to just fill the gaps when we can but please continue praying because the watchman is important the role of the watchman is important okay you know, several people here at our church, New Life even people that aren't part of my church and have contacted me you know, I'd like to be a pastor one day and this and that and then over the years they realize you know, it's not that easy and it's not easy, you know but here's the thing, I don't want to discourage anyone from doing it because there's going to be great rewards in heaven for it you know if you can be faithful to God, if you can study God's word there's no rush you know, we do things with God's timing as much as I want to rush it in my flesh I also don't want to rush it in my spirit because I know how important this role is and I'm not trying to say, oh Pastor Kevin, I'm so good no, I'm not I just thank God that I was raised in a Christian home thank God, I've read my Bible for over many years and I've had the blessings of being educated in God's word and study it and read it and absorb it and been saved for such a long time but you know for blessing up our church to grow for it to be protected from the enemies that are out there we need a full-time watchman so please, continue to pray for this church don't be satisfied oh, our pastor comes just on Thursday well, thank God for that thank God that I can come and I'll be here again this Sunday and I'll be here again this Thursday but continue praying to the Lord that we would please set us a watchman over this church so we can flourish, so we can do well so we can defend this church and we can be used by God to proclaim the word whether positive or whether negative